


Backwards, In Heels

by Sholio



Category: White Collar
Genre: F/M, Flirting, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-09
Updated: 2013-01-09
Packaged: 2017-11-24 06:05:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/631264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sholio/pseuds/Sholio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six months after Neal gets back from the islands, Sara decides to take matters into her own hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Backwards, In Heels

**Author's Note:**

> The title refers to the observation, regarding Ginger Rogers, that she did everything Fred Astaire did, but "backwards and in high heels".

Six months after Neal gets back from the islands, Sara decides to take matters into her own hands.

Of course, she could just _ask_ him: _Are you still interested? Do you want to pick things back up where we left off?_ But Neal is incapable of giving straight answers, especially to a question like that. He might _want_ to be honest; he might even think that he _is_ being honest. But he won't be. Neal displays how he feels through actions, not words; it's in his actions when the lies are stripped away and the man shows through.

By now Sara considers herself the graduate of a crash course in Caffrey Management 101. Peter Burke probably has a doctorate-level degree in that particular subject. Sara knows she's not there yet, but she's working on it.

And one of the things she's learned is that chasing Neal can only get you so far. There are times when you have to get in front of him and make _him_ chase _you._

She's prepared to break into his apartment, but June's maid remembers her. It's the middle of the workday and she had the foresight to watch the place long enough to ensure that Mozzie isn't around, but she still feels a little quiver of excitement as she slips through the door. The last time she was in Neal's apartment was at Peter's "welcome back to White Collar" party a few months ago. Being here alone brings back an unexpected nostalgia for that handful of weeks when she lived here: the quality of light over the balcony, the smell of paint and the faint whiff of Neal's cologne...

She leaves a card in the middle of his table, lightly dabbed with her perfume in case he doesn't recognize the handwriting -- but of course he will. On it, she's written four digits: her PIN number, once glimpsed by Neal at a Manhattan ATM. She changed it immediately afterwards, of course, even before the mess with her cleaned-out bank account was straightened out. Even at the time, she was well aware that giving Neal unfettered access to her bank account was a bad idea. _If things do work out for us, I don't think we'll ever be a joint bank acount kind of couple._ But she's getting way ahead of herself here. First things first, and the very first thing is seeing if he takes the bait.

She's smiling as she silently closes the door. She expects to have a lot of fun over the next day or two.

 

***

 

He takes the bait, all right, and a lot quicker than she expects. The next card -- taped to an unobtrusive location low on "their" ATM -- is gone when she checks it from a distance, with binoculars, a couple of hours later.

Belatedly, she wonders if it would have been possible to somehow bug Peter's car or office, because she would absolutely _love_ to be a fly on the wall for that end of this particular game.

Still, he's figured out her first clue and picked up the next one in record time. The next card is printed with an embossed pattern of black lace -- just like the lace on Sophie Covington's veil -- because Sara has left her next clue taped to the curb where Neal tackled the former Mrs. Covington to the ground after the kidnapping attempt. It's out of his radius, so he'll have to somehow get Peter to take him there.

She doesn't expect him to bring Peter in on it, especially not so quickly, but maybe he'll surprise her and go for honesty. If he and Peter tag-team her, this might go a lot faster than she was expecting; part of the game, on her end, is getting Neal to find a way to work around the restrictions of his radius. Perhaps she'd better add a modification. Humming to herself, she slips ahead and finds that her next set of cards are still in place. The widow card contains a simple numeric code that, once decoded, will lead him to the roof of the FBI building where they had their first "date". Here there are three separate cards, each with a piece of the next clue: a picture of the Raphael, the address of the Sterling Bosch building, and Winston Bosch's office number. She adds a postscript to the last card, in blue ink with a looping flourish: _Play nice and you'll get a treat! This isn't a good time to share your toys._

She stands up, turns around and almost jumps out of her skin. Mozzie is standing behind her, utterly silent, holding a ... banana?

"What are you _doing?_ " Sara squeaks as soon as her heart stops trying to climb out of her chest. "Stalking me?"

"You're behaving suspiciously," Mozzie retorts, raising the banana as if it's a weapon. Which, knowing Mozzie, it might be.

"And you _aren't?_ " 

"I'm gathering intel on Neal's behalf." On top of everything, he's in "disguise": dark glasses and a slouch hat. And yet, Sara reflects, in spite of being obvious as a traffic signal, he's apparently been following her all over town without being seen. Sometimes she thinks that Mozzie's flamboyant, slightly incompetent persona is entirely an act. And then there are times when she's convinced that no one is that good an actor.

"Did Neal put you up to this?"

He looks shifty -- shiftier than usual, that is. "Possibly."

Oh for pete's sake. "Tell Neal that if he wants to let other people do his work for him, then other people will get the reward at the end."

She can see him working through _that_ , and then his lips shape a silent, horrified "oh".

Sara smiles at him. He backs away.

"I hope we understand each other," she says sweetly.

 

***

 

She doesn't bother going to check on the next, last, most important message. It's still there, or it isn't, and Neal will find it, or he won't. It's an envelope taped to the underside of Winston Bosch's desk. Sara left it there during a meeting this morning. As part of her own bargain with herself, she didn't tell him what she was doing, which made taping it to the desk without being spotted half the fun. The crazy thing is that she trusts Neal to find some way to get to it without tipping off her boss or risking her job.

As for what he'll do when he finds it ...

Well. She supposes she'll find out.

The last envelope contains a hotel address and a room number, with a key card taped to it. No other message. Just that.

She's already reserved the room and checked in, and she goes there in late afternoon, with a folder of case files and a bottle of champagne. She may as well get some work done while she's waiting. In the room, she changes into a silk bathrobe, flops down on the bed, and gets to work.

By the middle of the evening, she's pretty sure he's not coming.

She decides to give him a little longer, and she's just reaching for the telephone to order room service when there is the soft swoosh-click of a card being swiped through the door.

Sara rolls over and half-turns. The thought belatedly occurs to her that it might not be Neal -- oh _dear_ , what if Winston Bosch found the message and thought it was for him? Just as she's about to reach for a sheet to cover herself, the door opens and she sees that it's Neal after all. He looks both smug and a little uncertain -- a combination that only Neal can properly pull off. He has his hat in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.

Sara smiles and twists so that he can see she's not wearing anything under the sheer robe. He hesitates in the doorway, and she rolls her eyes at him, so he comes inside, and closes the door.

And she knows it's going to be all right. There's a lot of work to do from here, but they can fix things. 

She has her answer.


End file.
